Ch.131131. RE: SET

Clatter—

The sound of cold metal hitting the floor, and the dull thud of leather dropping.

A smoke screen forms around us.

I attach my tail.

“Ellie. The substitution?”

“It worked.”

“That’s…”

“My heart.”

“I’m keeping it safe.”

From outside the smoke, I hear confused voices.

The light of transformation.

As expected.

They think it’s an attack and are responding immediately.

Well then.

“Allied forces nearby?”

“They’re approaching. Use your magic.”

“Ah.”

“Focus, Vine. This is real combat.”

“Yes.”

I use my magic to scan the surroundings.

A familiar magical energy registers with me.

And another familiar magical energy in a different sense.

Blanc.

Blanc in her transformed state.

That sharp sensation that only feels ominous to me.

Next to her, I sense an unfamiliar, faint magical energy.

Ah…

“Behind you.”

“…Hela?”

“It’s been a while.”

Hela puts a hat on my head.

“I made a new one.”

“…This?”

“Because it’s Eden.”

The texture is similar to the hat I used to wear.

A bit different, but well.

“How did you know my head size?”

“It’s one-size-fits-all.”

“Right, of course.”

How long has it been since I exchanged such trivial jokes with Hela?

“So, what’s the plan? We can’t fight. Just escape?”

“That’s right. Why, not confident?”

“No.”

The smoke clears.

The mountain wind is quite strong, so it dissipates quickly.

“Vine! Vine!!!”

“…”

“Vine, are you okay?”

“Yes, this was bound to happen.”

Ellie is asking me, but…

Right now, she’s the one in the most danger.

Both the device isolating the core and the device replacing the core are crucial.

If they’re stolen or destroyed by the other side, the entire operation will fail.

Still, that desperate cry from Blanc…

Sigh.

“Are you going to fight? How’s your strength?”

“I’m not going to fight. I told you I won’t. My strength… is fine.”

Actually, now that I’ve removed the necklace, my magical power is…

Well, it’s slightly insufficient, but I think I can exert my original power.

I seem to have worn it for too long.

And I used some power while in that deficient state.

But it’s okay. For now.

The smoke completely clears.

At the fountain, there’s me, Ellie, and Hela.

On the opposite side, facing us, are Blanc, who has already completed her transformation and is looking at us in her magical girl form, and…

Arin.

Our eyes meet.

“Vine!”

“…Blanc.”

“H-Hela…?”

“We’re taking Vine back. You stupid magical girl. Did you believe that villain nonsense? Hahaha!”

“Vine…! Get away from that person quickly…! It’s dangerous…!”

“Blanc. Please say something that makes sense.”

“Sis…! W-who is that person…?”

“…Arin, no. Just a magical girl. Yes, a magical girl… a magical girl. A nameless magical girl. You. You are… nothing. Forget everything. Yes, forget everything. Those things never happened. Let me formally introduce myself. I am… Vine. Eden’s Second Commander and First Division Head. Now I am truly your enemy.”

“Sis…?”

“Rookie magical girl over there. I sincerely hope we won’t meet on the battlefield again. A magical girl like you would collapse immediately.”

To Arin.

To Arin, I…

It can’t be helped.

Now you and I…

Yes.

This is how it had to be.

It was a relationship that should never have been formed in the first place.

…I touch my cheek again.

Where Arin k…kissed me earlier.

That spot.

…Please, I hope she forgets.

I hope she remembers me only as a ruthless villain forever.

“Blanc. Then I hope we meet in better circumstances next time.”

“Vine…? W-wait…! What are you saying…!”

“You and I… weren’t we originally this kind of relationship? This is correct. Simply, another opportunity has come. Hela. Let’s go quickly.”

“Really, how stupid.”

Blanc fires an attack at Hela.

A bullet of condensed magical energy flies toward us.

She easily blocks it with her tail.

“I’d rather not… fight here. You feel the same, don’t you?”

“Vine…?”

“I am Eden. Eden’s Second Commander. Your enemy.”

I leap up using my tail to push off the ground.

Hela and Ellie also take flight.

And I…

Adjust my hat.

Pull it down low so my face isn’t visible.

“Let’s return to our original relationship, Blanc. We were… this kind of relationship.”

Hela opens a warp gate.

Blanc and Arin look on with bewildered expressions.

It doesn’t… hurt.

It doesn’t hurt.

Because this is how it should have been originally.

That brief period… I should just think of it as a peculiar time in my life.

I only act to fulfill Eden’s ideals.

I’m merely a tool to follow the Boss’s vision.

So, I’m starting over.

Karma.

Such things will be known as necessary sacrifices for the greater good once our ideals are realized.

* * *

What just happened?

It all happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly.

I hadn’t anticipated any of this.

I try to reach Ellie through our contract magic.

It doesn’t work.

Why…?

This should definitely be working…

Could it be…?

I look at Ellie.

She just stares back at me with sad eyes.

I look at Vine.

That characteristic expressionlessness has intensified.

I can see she’s trying to hide her emotions.

Why, why…?

And that Hela.

Ah, I should have captured her completely back then.

Since when did this happen…?

Did they make contact secretly?

Of course, she’s been going out a lot lately, but still.

Maybe that day when we went to Eden headquarters?

No, that’s impossible.

We had our personnel at the facility the whole time.

They couldn’t have made contact. We were controlling everything, so who could have come in…

Did they plan this meeting place anticipating something like this would happen?

That doesn’t make any sense.

How could this be…?

While I was lost in these thoughts, I failed to prevent them from entering the gate.

In front of the now-empty fountain, only two abandoned leashes remained.

And Arin beside me…

She looked completely dumbfounded.

What should have been the best day for Arin had turned into the worst.

Arin really liked Vine.

“…Director. She probably took her phone with her, so we can track… No, she wouldn’t have taken it… The contract has been forcibly broken. How…?”

“Sis… Vine, sis…”

“…Yes.”

“What should we do…?”

She asks me in a slightly sobbing voice, but.

There’s nothing I can do.

How can I…

Sigh…

“For now… let’s go back, Arin. We need to go back and talk with the others… I think.”

“She was kidnapped… right? That’s it, right? Suddenly, that strange person with the weird head, forcibly took her away, right? Vine, Vine sis wouldn’t do this…”

“…Arin. For now… I don’t know either. Let’s think about it with the others when we get back.”

“Sis… sis… that hat…”

“Yeah… I’m really shocked too…”

And so, I returned home with the dejected Arin.

In a car that should have had four people, only two remained.

* * *

I followed Hela to the new headquarters.

And the place we arrived at was.

“The Doctor’s laboratory?”

“To be honest, he’s not listening to anyone right now. I thought you might be needed.”

“The Doctor?”

“He’s not in his right mind. Like us… I guess he lost his sanity from the shock of losing the Boss. You need to go help him a bit.”

“…Before that, I have a question.”

“What?”

“How have you been living all this time? Why couldn’t you contact me…?”

“Well… we had our own circumstances. How do you think we gathered all these people?”

Indeed, there were quite a few people at the new headquarters.

Just like the old Eden.

“We’ve recovered about 50% of the original personnel. Those we couldn’t recover… I guess they were the ones who wouldn’t follow without the Boss.”

“The Boss’s presence is certainly important…”

“It took a really long time to gather even this many. Plus, the military and the Association bastards are managing the headquarters.”

“I see. Where are we now?”

“A bit far. In the mountains of this peninsula.”

“North?”

“No, we’ve moved south from the original headquarters. We’ve settled deep in the mountains.”

“Ah…”

…Sigh. I see.

If that’s the case…

“So, could you meet with the Doctor a bit? Oh, Ellie, come here. Check out our room first.”

“We have a room too?”

“It’s not as big as the original headquarters, but we were able to secure a sufficiently large site. So it’s enough.”

“I see…?”

“I’ve also put in communication devices and a new smartphone. It’s a properly sanitized phone that can’t be tracked.”

“Where did the funds come from?”

“Where do you think?”

“Hah…”

Right.

For now, we’ve returned to a new headquarters.

It’s important to restore the Doctor, who is a crucial part of our forces, back to normal…

I open the door to the laboratory.

The Doctor is nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?”

“He must be doing some experiment inside. Go in quickly.”

“Alright…”

Going further in, I see a figure.

A hunched back, a crazed white coat.

It’s the Doctor.

“Doctor, it’s been a while?”

“…Oh, this voice…!”

“Yes. What have you been making this time that’s got you so crazy…?!”

“Vine… Vine…! You’ve come, Vine… Vine, oh Vine…! Perfection itself, I wondered where you had run off to, but you’ve returned on your own…!”

“Doctor…? What are you doing…? Why are you restraining my body…?”

“Oh… my light, my salvation…! First, I must update the records I couldn’t keep… Those filthy outsiders must have ruined my precious test subject… It’s okay, it’s okay…! I’ll restore everything to how it was…!”

“Um, excuse me…? Doctor…?”

“Well… first let’s restore that contaminated head…! Ah…! How dare my beautiful test subject try to deviate from variable control, how outrageous, how outrageous. How regrettable, so regrettable. That magical girl who even defeated him, I want to experiment, ah… I want to use her as an experimental tool…! I will restore the horizon of humanity, I will be able to confirm human growth again. I will be able to break through human limitations… Ah, aah!”

“C-crazy… KYAAAH!??!!”

“Now… you’ve attached well to the connection point… Then it will be easier…! Now… it’s reset time…!”